The Detroit Pistons were able to overcome a five-point deficit in the final 2:22 of overtime to pull out a tough 112-107 victory over the Toronto Raptors on Sunday night at Little Caesars Arena, in what could have been a preview of a first-round playoff series.

Raptors star Kawhi Leonard, who rested Sunday, would be available for any such matchup, but the Pistons (31-31) would have confidence after clinching the season series with two victories against the Eastern Conference’s second-best team.

The Pistons move to .500 for the first time since Dec. 26 and are now sixth in the East playoff chase, 2½ games in front of the eighth-place Orlando Magic, who lost at Cleveland.

Raptors fans had a strong presence in the arena, and the outcome looked bleak when Kyle Lowry’s 3-pointer gave the Raptors a 107-102 lead in OT.

But Blake Griffin free throws, a Reggie Jackson 3-pointer and two free throws from Andre Drummond gave the Pistons a 109-107 lead with 46.1 seconds remaining.

The Pistons finished the game with five straight stops. They have now won 10 of 13 and are 5-1 since the NBA All-Star break.

Drummond, who battled foul trouble the entire game, scored 15 points, grabbed 17 rebounds, had two steals and a blocked shot in 28 minutes. The Pistons outscored the Raptors by 27 in Drummond's minutes.

Griffin scored 27 points and added seven rebounds, but did have five turnovers.

The Raptors forced overtime when OG Anunoby tapped in a missed shot, tying the game at 100 with 25.6 seconds left.

The Pistons were forced into a shot-clock violation on their next possession, and after a timeout, Toronto's Marc Gasol missed an open corner 3-pointer as regulation expired, setting up the extra period.

Things grew testy in the third quarter.

Lowry and Danny Green received technical fouls on the same possession after arguing calls, but Jackson and Wayne Ellington missed free throws.

Zaza Pachulia was ejected at the 2:27 mark of the third quarter after he received two technical fouls (one for bumping an official).

His anger was understandable, since he was clobbered going up for a shot and there wasn’t a call.

The teams meet again in two weeks at Little Caesars Arena for the final game of the season series, and you can expect another strong Raptors contingent. It has become something of a tradition for Canadians to make the trip.

Casey said at the time it was an emotional evening in returning to Scotiabank Arena, but the time for looking back has passed.

“All the nostalgia, all the other stuff (is gone),” Casey said before Sunday's game. “You think about that when you see your former players out there, but once the ball goes up, we’re fighting for something and they are, too.”